The following navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Left and right arrows move through main tier links and expand / close menus in sub tiers. Up and Down arrows will open main tier menus and toggle through sub tier links. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items.

The following navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Left and right arrows move through main tier links and expand / close menus in sub tiers. Up and Down arrows will open main tier menus and toggle through sub tier links. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items.

How to: Use Train Tracker by text

CTA Train Tracker SM by Text allows you to get estimated arrivals from CTA Train Tracker on a wide range of phones and mobile devices.

We'll be improving the service based on your feedback and also evaluating places where we can post this information at stations, at a later date.

Using this service

It's easy as 1-2-3:

Find your stopcode in the list below or on the bottom of the printed/pdf timetable for your station.

Text ctatrain [stopcode] to 41411
Be sure to text the word "ctatrain", a space, and then the actual stop code, such as "ctatrain hwrd" (without the quotes or brackets).

Receive arrival times.

Note: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first. If you need help, e-mail us at feedback@transitchicago.com.

Example

Here's how the text message you send might look if you wanted to see the next trains at Chicago on the Red Line. The stop code for that station is CHIR, so you'd text "ctatrain chir" to 41411.

Try it!

Send ctatrain chir to 41411, like this:

After your message is received, you'll get a message like this:

The first line in the example response above, "Rd>Hwrd Due" indicates that a Red Line train to Howard is due, and one to 95th/Dan Ryan is in two minutes. (Responses are abbreviated so you can get to the information you need in as few messages as possible.)

Note that abbreviated destinations in results do not necessarily coincide with stop codes. For what to send to us for arrivals, find your station's code here.

Response Abbreviations

Here's a quick list of abbreviations you'll see in response texts from this service:

Routes

Abbreviated Destinations in Responses

Rd = Red Line

Hwrd = to Howard

Bl = Blue Line

95th = to 95th/Dan Ryan

Br = Brown Line

Kmbl = to Kimball

Gr = Green Line

Loop = to Loop

Or = Orange Line

54/Cer = to 54th/Cermak

Pk = Pink Line

Harlm = to Harlem/Lake

Pu = Purple Line

CottG = to Cottage Grove

Yl = Yellow Line

Ash63 = to Ashland/63rd

O'Hare = to O'Hare

FrstPk = to Forest Park

JeffPk = to Jefferson Park

UIC = to UIC-Halsted

Midw = to Midway

Finding your stop code

You can find stop codes below or find texting instructions for your station in the following locations:

On your station's page on this website. (Go to Schedules, then choose your route, then click/tap your station's name in the route diagram for full details.)

On Train Tracker results when viewed on this website. (After pulling up arrival times in Train Tracker, you can expand the "Station information" section below a set of results in Train Tracker and detailed instructions will appear.)

On timetables posted in stations. (Texting instructions appear at the bottom right of station timetable posters in every 'L' station.)

Complete list of stop codes

The following codes have been assigned to each of CTA's stations to make it easier to remember what to text.

Station name

Served by these lines

Stop Code

18th

Pink

18TH

35th-Bronzeville-IIT

Green

35GR

35th/Archer

Orange

35OR

43rd

Green

43RD

47th

Green

47GR

47th

Red

47RE

51st

Green

51ST

54th/Cermak

Pink

54TH

63rd

Red

63RD

69th

Red

69TH

79th

Red

79TH

87th

Red

87TH

95th

Red

95TH

Adams/Wabash

Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple

ADAM

Addison

Blue

ADBL

Addison

Brown

ADBR

Addison

Red

ADRE

Argyle

Red

ARGY

Armitage

Brown, Purple

ARMI

Ashland/63rd

Green

63AS

Ashland

Green, Pink

ASHL

Ashland

Orange

ASHO

Austin

Blue

AUSB

Austin

Green

AUSG

Belmont

Red, Brown, Purple

BELM

Belmont

Blue

BELB

Berwyn

Red

BERW

Bryn Mawr

Red

BRYN

California

Pink

CALP

California

Green

CALG

California

Blue

CALB

Central Park

Pink

CNPK

Central

Green

CENG

Central

Purple

CENP

Cermak-Chinatown

Red

CHNA

Cermak-McCormick Place

Green

CRMC

Chicago

Blue

CHIB

Chicago

Brown, Purple

CHIF

Chicago

Red

CHIR

Cicero

Pink

CICP

Cicero

Blue

CICF

Cicero

Green

CICG

Clark/Division

Red

CDIV

Clark/Lake

Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple

CLKL

Clinton

Blue

CLIB

Clinton

Green, Pink

CLIL

Conservatory-Central Park Drive

Green

CONS

Cumberland

Blue

CUMB

Damen

Brown

DMNB

Damen

Pink

DMPK

Damen

Blue

DAMO

Davis

Purple

DAVI

Dempster

Purple

DEMP

Dempster-Skokie

Yellow

DESK

Diversey

Brown, Purple

DIVR

Division

Blue

DIVI

Cottage Grove

Green

COTT

Forest Park

Blue

FORP

Foster

Purple

FOST

Francisco

Brown

FRAN

Fullerton

Red, Brown, Purple

FULL

Garfield

Green

GARG

Garfield

Red

GARR

Grand

Blue

GRBL

Grand

Red

GRRE

Granville

Red

GRAN

Halsted

Green

HALG

Halsted

Orange

HALO

Harlem (Forest Park Branch)

Blue

HARF

Harlem

Green

HARL

Harlem (O'Hare Branch

Blue

HARO

Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren

Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple

HWLC

Harrison

Red

HARR

Howard

Red, Purple, Yellow

HWRD

Illinois Medical District

Blue

ILMD

Indiana

Green

INDI

Irving Park

Blue

IRVO

Irving Park

Brown

IRVB

Jackson

Blue

JACB

Jackson

Red

JACR

Jarvis

Red

JARV

Jefferson Park

Blue

JPRK

Kedzie

Brown

KEDB

Kedzie

Pink

KEDP

Kedzie

Green

KEDG

Kedzie-Homan

Blue

KEDH

Kedzie

Orange

KEDO

Kimball

Brown

KIMB

King Drive

Green

KING

Kostner

Pink

KOST

Lake

Red

LAKE

Laramie

Green

LARA

LaSalle

Blue

LASA

LaSalle/Van Buren

Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple

LASV

Lawrence

Red

LAWR

Linden

Purple

LIND

Logan Square

Blue

LOGS

Loyola

Red

LOYO

Main

Purple

MAIN

Merchandise Mart

Brown, Purple

MART

Midway

Orange

MDW

Monroe

Blue

MONB

Monroe

Red

MONR

Montrose

Blue

MONK

Montrose

Brown

MONT

Morgan

Green, Pink

MORG

Morse

Red

MORS

North/Clybourn

Red

NCLY

Noyes

Purple

NOYE

Oak Park

Blue

OAKB

Oak Park

Green

OAKG

Oakton-Skokie

Yellow

OAKS

O'Hare

Blue

ORD

Paulina

Brown

PAUL

Polk

Pink

POLK

Pulaski

Pink

PULP

Pulaski

Blue

PULF

Pulaski

Green

PULG

Pulaski

Orange

PULO

Quincy/Wells

Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple

QUIN

Racine

Blue

RACN

Ridgeland

Green

RIDG

Rockwell

Brown

ROCK

Roosevelt

Red, Orange, Green

ROOS

Rosemont

Blue

ROSE

Sedgwick

Brown, Purple

SEDG

Sheridan

Red

SHER

South Boulevard

Purple

SOBL

Southport

Brown

SPRT

Sox-35th

Red

SOX

State/Lake

Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple

STLK

Thorndale

Red

THOR

UIC-Halsted

Blue

UICH

Washington/Wabash

Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple

WAWA

Washington/Wells

Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple

WASW

Washington

Blue

WASB

Wellington

Brown, Purple

WELL

Western

Brown

WESB

Western

Pink

WESP

Western (Forest Park Branch)

Blue

WESF

Western (O'Hare Branch)

Blue

WESM

Western

Orange

WESO

Wilson

Red, Purple

WILS

Other ways to find stop codes

If you need to look up a stop while on-the-go and don't have an Internet connection to check our website, you can also text "ctatrain [route]" to 41411 to get a list of stop codes via text message.

Additional Commands

Also, you can also reply to this message with "R" to get the latest, most updated result for the same stop.

If your stop has multiple routes serving it, your results may not fit in one text message. In that case, you can also reply with "N" to see the next result for the stop you requested.

If there are alerts, you'll see "A)lerts" at the end of texts you receive, and you can reply with "A" to retrieve them.

Note: If you have subscribed to receive text messages for service alerts or arrivals at scheduled times from the CTA Bus Tracker website, you can always reply with (or send a new text with) "STOP" to unsubscribe. (There are no subscriptions related to the CTA Train Tracker by Text service.) And remember: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first.)

Tip: Narrow your results

To get just the routes you're interested (and potentially reduce the number of texts you need to send or receive to get the information you want), you can also specify a route color in your request—just add a space and the color after the stop code in your request.

For example, to get only Orange Line results at Clark/Lake (stop code: CLKL), send this request: